Encore plus de Waddell sur Laine
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doppleganger2621
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@Blue Jackets de Columbus
Encore plus de Waddell sur Laine
10 Comments
I was just going to post this –
This doesn’t sit well with me.
This is another comment from Waddell
> I think that’s the biggest thing you want to learn is who’s on board. It’s one of the things, when I talk to all players, I always ask them, do you want to be part of the solution or not? I’m not married to any of these guys. Some guys were (saying), well I’m not sure what my future holds. I’m going to be a free agent. Then you start questioning whether they really want to be here. But a hundred percent of the guys that I talk to excluding a couple of Russians that I haven’t been able to talk to, everybody’s on board. They want to be a part of the solution.”
Ok so you’re telling me that all the Elvis, KJ drama – and he’s referenced that he’s specifically spoken with them in other interviews – even THOSE guys are like “yep moving forward.”
This is Laine’s prerogative but I can’t help but wonder if the “locker room issue” is a reaction to him being salty that someone scratched him. Anyone can have their opinion on that but calling a spade a spade – he was giving lackluster effort.
If you look at articles from when he left Winnipeg it’s the same pattern. Maurice is starting to press harder on him. He’s publicly telling him to play better. He’s telling him that just because he’s good doesn’t mean he can get everything he wants. Then he starts butting heads with the Winnipeg GM. Then he wants out. Then there are issues in the locker room.
I’m sympathetic to what he’s gone through. The two things can coexist. This is looking to be kind of a pattern though and I do worry this is starting to be a distraction heading into camp.
I told you hes gone
I really don’t think it’s even worth talking about trading Laine. First, no one wants him. If the two or three teams interested had a decent offer then he’d already be gone. Second, his stock is at an all time low.
Third, the team is radically different from last year’s. New GM, new HC, new assistants, new top centerman, hell even a new play by play guy. Not to mention Bemstrom, Texier, Boq, and Bean are no longer here. Unless Laine just absolutely hates the city then he basically is getting the new organization he is wanting. If I wanted to quit my job but then they fired my boss, his boss, his assistant, and hired a bunch of new coworkers I’d probably at least give it a couple months to see if I could make it work.
Here’s the thing Laine…at the end of the day the Blue Jackets and you agreed to a contract for a 4 year term. It has to make sense to us to have someone pay you $8.7 million dollars for us to have you play another team on our dime. This is being looked as a cap dump trade around the league and we have zero reason to do that as we are not against the cap nor a direct playoff push. This is just a you can’t have your cake and eat it. Either earn your way out of Columbus with good play for a few months or agree to a mutual termination if its that important you need to be elsewhere. We can’t just be paying 8.7 million dollars for a 2nd round pick (Rule of thumb 4-5mil retainment gets you a good 1st round pick) just because you got your feelings hurt in the locker room. Just like me at work need to put in effort for a better job to get away from the assholes I work with.
If he really wants out that bad, they can mutually terminate his contract. he can be free as a bird to go somewhere else then and negotiate a new contract. It sucks, (then again the last 3 years here sucked so there’s that). stick him in unconditional waivers if he agrees, then it’s all done. sometimes you can’t get your fudge on top of your sundae like you want. 🤷♀️ . I’d hate to have him come back, become a wreck mentally amd regress and have to go back in the players program then no one wins.
I’m glad he got his mental health back on track. If he’s that adamant of never playing again for the blue jackets under any circumstances then he seems like an easy decision to terminate your contract and go elsewhere.
Hes been in 2 locker rooms and has now had issues with both of them. Cant have your cake and eat it too. If its that important to leave then maybe terminating your contract is the best idea
So, I’m guessing what happened in Winnipeg happened again here: veteran leadership didn’t like his unique attitude and gave him some shit about it and Laine is tired of it. Either that are the coaching staff hated his guts and no one stood up for him, either way…
I wish we still had Cam and Fligs.
🙁
Edit: really just because of the locker room culture and leadership qualities. Those guys were great
Independent of the laine situation, it’s a real breath of fresh air that Waddell seems to be able to simultaneously:
– talk to the media
– talk about real and hard issues
– do it in a way that doesn’t seem guaranteed to piss the subjects off
– do it in a no nonsense, no drama, no 4D chess way
I dont know Laine’s mindset and we don’t know or may never know all the facts, but as someone myself who has dealt with mental illness it seems he just keeps running away instead of dealing with it. I am not a doctor nor should my thoughts be taken as advice without talking to a doctor or counselor. I spent decades running from my problems hoping they go away. They never do. For me it made my anxiety and depression worse. It may be triggering to some and may anger some, but you do need to learn to thoughen up some. I dont know how else to say it. He cant just keep going from team to team and hope for a better outcome. You can keep running away, but it wont get better untill you stop and realize it only gets better when you deal with it in a healthy way. Also, you have to realize that its not always the external that is the cause. Its often for me the internal that causes me the most grief. We are often our own worst enemy. I feel bad for Laine and anyone else who is or has dealt with mental illness. It truly is a bitch